Analysis Of Amy-Jill Levine's Parables Of Jesus

Another author named Amy-Jill Levine wrote a book on the parables of Jesus. Her view points are quite interesting because she explains not only what a parable is, but then goes into farther detail of the parables. One interesting remark was that parables “are often seen as the hallmark of Jesus’ teaching (Levine).” This remark relates to Gowler’s remark in the previous paragraphs. Parables are important because they are what we have of Jesus’ teachings, because they have been persevered. She makes a very important point that even though the parables remain, their interpretations do not, if there were any interpretations to begin with. So the readers are left to decipher what they actually mean. This leaves a lot of room for different views. Every person could have a different explanation for each. The parable of the “Lost Son” for example, means things to different groups of people. Levine says it could mean something to parents and their children or to irresponsible people and indulged. When looked at it this way, it evokes a different viewpoint, other than just the father and son message.
Then again it could be looked at a good way that there are not explanations to the parables. People would take the explanations and look to deep into them and be confused. The disciples often misunderstood Jesus’ teachings. While we do not have explanations we can
The words “prodigal son” in itself does not really appear in the parable itself. Granted that the parable, for the vast majority is known by that title, but oddly enough it does not appear. The title misleads readers to what the meaning of the parable is, that is why it is referenced as the parable of “the Lost Son.” Thus, this title prompts the question, “which son is lost (Levine 31)?” The word prodigal is often misinterpreted. Levine believes that it is because the title and that the readers focus too much on the younger son’s character rather than the parable in its